1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The invention relates to animal repellents, particularly rodent repellents. More particularly, the invention relates to compositions and methods of making and using compositions for repelling animals in order to minimize or prevent damage to containers, insulated wires, cables, and the like, caused by animals, especially gnawing rodents.
2. Background Art
Rodents have long been known worldwide for their destructive habits and behaviors. They carry numerous diseases which infect humans, they eat or foul an astronomical quantity of food intended for people and domestic animals, and they cause an enormous amount of property damage as a result of their gnawing and burrowing.
Rodents appear to be genetically compelled to gnaw, and gnawing may be independent of factors such as food or water deprivation or satiation. For example, rodents (rats, mice, gophers, prairie dogs, etc.) gnaw at the rubber or plastic insulation of electric cables, eventually exposing the conductive wires and eventually causing a short circuit. Replacement or repair of gnawed cables can be time consuming and costly, especially when the damaged cables are overhead, buried in the ground, or within building walls. Gnawing-induced damage to fiber optic cables is particularly troublesome, since there is no voltage leak to facilitate detection and location of the damage. The growing use of fiber optic cables, together with the difficulty in locating, splicing and repairing these cables, increases the need for an effective means of protecting them from animal damage.
Numerous scientific laboratories, as well as a variety of public and private businesses and industries, experience serious problems with rodent damage to electric and fiber optic cables. Typically, expensive rodent-proof coverings (often called gopher-proofing), using steel jacketing and/or other costly materials, have been used to reduce rodent damage. Such jackets have the marked disadvantages of significantly increased cost, added cable weight transported to the field, reduced flexibility (which hinders installation), and reduced effective length of spooled cable taken to the field (due to the increased cable diameter attributable to the jacketing).
Likewise, rodents often gnaw their way through various containers to access the contents. A particular problem is the gnawing of rodents through food containers, resulting in lost and contaminated food.
Hazardous waste management companies also experience rodent damage problems. Liquid hazardous wastes typically are temporarily held in lined lagoons prior to long-term storage, treatment, or disposal. Temporary storage lagoons are simply holes in the ground lined with plastic sheets. Rodents chew through the plastic liners, thereby releasing the waste into the ground and potentially leading to ground water contamination.
There have also been reports of severe problems with rats destroying wallpaper and walls as they gnawed their way to the wallpaper paste (apparently the paste is tasty and/or nutritive to the rodents). It was discovered that adding chile pepper to the paste prevents gnawing damage. (Logue, A. W., The Psychology of Eating and Drinking, W. H. Freeman and Company, 1986, p. 92).
Anecdotal reports also have described applications of cayenne chile pepper to bird feeders to prevent rodents (typically squirrels) from pilfering the birdfood. Chile pepper, mixed with petroleum jelly and spread on the pole supporting the feeder, prevents rodents from gaining access to the feeder.
U.S. Pat. No. 631,738 to Dowie, et al., entitled Composition for Expelling Rats, discloses a means of expelling rats and other vermin using chili pepper (of undisclosed species) and hellebore as active ingredients. A substance is sprinkled on the premises where rats are troublesome, and from its intense irritating and burning qualities effectually prevents the vermin from again invading the places where it has been used.
Other patents also disclose use of peppers to deter rodents or other animals. U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,607 to Larson, entitled Deterrent Composition, Method of Using Same, and Article Coated Thereby, discloses a deterrent with active ingredients including cinnamic aldehyde (the active ingredient in the spice cinnamon) in vehicles comprised of denatured ethyl alcohol, beeswax, lard or petrolatum. U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,304 to Yaralian, Composition for Repelling Birds, discloses a substance of "finely divided" cayenne pepper and garlic powder, inert mineral material (dolomite, talc) and water for use in repelling birds from plants, fruit and fields. U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,532 to Clayton, entitled Animal Repellant Composition, discloses the composition of an olfactory repellent consisting of such substances as di(n-heptyl, n-noyl) adipate, cinnamic aldehyde, methyl nonyl ketone, quinine, and mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,637 to Harding, Jr., entitled Rodent Repellent Powders, discloses the use of pepper powder to discourage rodents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,070 to Messina, entitled Deer Repellant Formulation, discloses a deer repellent comprised of either "liquid hot sauce such as that sold under the trademark GOYA," as a gustatory repellent or "hot pepper powder" as an olfactory repellent. Both repellents are to be applied to the surface to be protected. U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,380 to Fischer, entitled Marine Organism Repellent Covering for Protection of Underwater Objects and Method of Applying Same, discloses the placement of cayenne pepper particles within an adhesive applied to underwater objects in order to repel barnacles and mussels.
Others have attempted using "liquid hot sauce," cayenne pepper, "finely divided pepper," "chili pepper", and "finely divided dried pepper" in order to repel animals. No previous attempts have been made to extract the active, heat-producing alkaloids (capsaicinoids) from peppers for direct use as animal repellents. Likewise, no previous use has been made of the habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense) which has the distinction of being the hottest pepper known. Indeed the habanero is hundreds of times hotter than the hottest of cayenne (Capsicum annuum) or tabasco peppers (Capsicum frutescens).
Current methods and techniques for animal damage control generally involve aggressive and lethal techniques such as poisons, trapping and glue boards. These methods are non-selective and can, therefore, harm non-taryeted species. In the case of poisons, long-term residues can be problematic. Fencing and netting (as well as other exclusionary methods) can be effective, and they have the benefits of not harming the environment or non-targeted species; however, they can be cumbersome and expensive. With the current visibility of animal rights and environmental groups, new means of reducing animal damage while causing less harm to the environment or wildlife species will become increasingly important. Accordingly, a need remains for an animal repellent which complies with Environmental Protection Agency standards and regulations.
Several articles are critical of traditional methods of animal control such as trapping or poisoning, but do not suggest the use of capsaicinoid extract repellents as an alternative. Acord, B. R., "Animal Damage Control: Are We Prepared for the Next Century?" The Probe, Issue 111, June 1991, pp. 1-5, suggests that a new paradigm must be forged that has a win/win orientation mindful of animal welfarists or animal rightists and an emphasis on wildlife damage management rather than animal control. Fitzwater, W. D., "Bird Limes and Rate Glues--Sticky Situations." Proceedings of the Tenth Vertebrate Pest Conference, R. E. Marsh, Ed., University of California, Davis, 1982, pp. 17-20, indicates that there is widespread use of sticky materials such as "glueboards" to catch rats and mice. Their popularity has risen with the increasingly negative public attitude towards use of pesticide chemicals. The use of glueboards may be limited by temperature, moisture, dust, vapors, and the like. Problems include the entanglement of non-targeted species.